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Time--2017 A to Z Theme

My theme for the 2017 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge was "Time". The posts are of a more philosophical, contemplative, and even autobiographical bent. No time management tips in this theme, but stuff intended to make you think.

Always a work in progress--welcome to my blog...

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Saturday, March 12, 2011

More Challenges: Reaching for the Stars

All achievements, all earned riches, have their beginning in an idea. - Napoleon Hill -

If you can dream it, you can do it. - Walt Disney -

We are climbing towards the magic 500! Wow! What a job you all are doing. You have been making a great effort to make the A to Z Challenge a success. There have been some really helpful posts that have provided very useful information. I have been enjoying these posts and I thank each of you for these. Now I'm wondering who would like to step this Challenge up a bit?

It's an exciting feeling to be a part of something big. If you've ever run in a big marathon, been part of a big campaign, or just pitched in and helped others accomplish something really big, it can make you feel bigger and better about what you've done after it's over. To look back and be able to tell others that you were a part something that was a major event can give you a sense of accomplishment and historical significance. Wouldn't you like to look back on the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge of 2011 and be proud to say that you were a part of it?

That why I'm asking you to help make this challenge a truly momentous event. I am proposing two additional challenges to help Blogging from A to Z become something bigger and more memorable:

1)Tell a friend: I am challenging each of you to invite at least one friend to join us in this upcoming week. I know that many of you have already been doing this and thanks to those efforts many bloggers have added their names to our list of A to Zers. But there are still a lot of you who know other bloggers who haven't joined up yet. You bloggers will have the greatest sway in convincing your friends not to be left out of the fun. If a quarter of you can persuade at least one friend to join up we will be well over the 500 mark by the end of this week. How many more bloggers can you get to join us in the Challenge?

2)Tell the world: I also challenge you to write up a press release to send in to your local paper or other publications. This may be tougher for some of you. Some folks will be "afraid" and think they don't know how to do this. Tomorrow (Sunday 3/13) and Wednesday (3/16) I'm going to offer some suggestions on how to approach this.
I'm sure that many of you A to Z participants know someone connected with a publication who might be able to help you do this or have had some experience in getting press releases published and already know how to go about this.
Any of us who have something to promote will find it advantageous to have our names and products mentioned as being connected with this world encompassing A to Z Challenge. The large publications might be more difficult, but small town newspapers, local newsletters, or specialized websites are definitely can-do. I invite anyone who gets something about the Challenge published to put it up on their blog so they can share it with all of us. If you email me a copy or a link I will also feature it on my blog.

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I am putting forth these challenges to every one of you. Since we already know that no one of any of us in the challenge can effectively visit and reach out individually to every participant, I figure it will be better to be a part of something big. Let me know what you think of these challenge ideas.

Having our names attached to a big event that gets a lot of attention will be beneficial to each of us and to whatever it is that we do. This Challenge is a reputation builder for us. It certainly can't hurt to get your products or agendas or your names buzzing around the news, blogs, and search engine pages. There's nothing better than getting others to get the word out for us. I hope this sounds good to you. If so, please push these ideas on your sites as well.

The World Premiere of The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge 2011 will be happening on April 1st. Our Grand Opening happens in three weeks! I'd like to see a stellar premiere on April 1st.

Why just be contented with telling each other about the Challenge? Let's spread the word to our friends, neighbors, and families. Let's tell the world!

Tomorrow I will be addressing some of the reasons why we might want to be contacting media and how it benefits you personally. Then, this coming Wednesday March 16th, I will be talking about the topic of press releases--what they are and how to work with them. This is information that can help those of you willing to forge ahead with the challenges I've given you today and for your own use in the future.

This coming Monday I will be appearing on Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog to tell the story of how this Challenge all came about in the first place. My blog will be visited by a guest host who lives in Japan. He sent me an email this morning to tell me that he is okay. But let's not forget to keep our wonderful friends in Japan in our prayers as they deal with their current tragedy.

27 comments:

Hello LeeI'm sorry I won't be able to take up your invitation to attend the World Premiere of what will be a fabulous month long event - as I mentioned previously I'll be away for the next two weeks and part of April also. So as I really haven't had time to prepare properly it's with regret I ask (and its definite this time) that you remove my name from the list of attendees.World wide publicity is a great idea - will give all those blogs and their authors the respect they deserve. Look forward to reading your ideas on this subject.BTW from 100 to 600 followers in 12 months is a great achievement - you certainly put in a lot of hard work to make it happen.Take careCathy

Thanks for the reminder, while I did post this on my blog and have three friends who have signed up now, I didn't think about the publicity. I will send this in my to our local writing organiztion WGOT for the once a month publicity blast they send out. On to 500 and beyond!

Cathy -- Sorry won't be participating with us this year. Maybe you can still mention the Challenge another time or two on your blog. And thanks for your kind words here.

Yvonne -- I'd like to stir up some enthusiasm among those who normal don't read blogs. It would be fun to have readers outside of the blog community checking in with the challenge. It's going to be up to us to spread the word. You've been doing some great posts and I really appreciate you for doing that.

Ivan -- There you go! There are many places we can all think of where we can get a mention about the challenge. An organization to which you belong is a great place to start spreading the word to people with common interests.

Words Crafter -- Facebook, Twitter, and other social media are all great places to plant seeds to get people curious and wanting to know more. I've got some ideas coming on my post tomorrow.

Jess -- Yes, please stop at both of our blogs on Monday.

Gregg -- 12 million blogs and billions of people in the world--we've got a lot more people we can reach out to. Attaining big success is not achieved by dreaming small.

Dezmond -- We believed that the 500 was attainable and so is 1000 or 10,000. Almost anything is possible if the will to achieve them is strong enough.

Spreading the word! And why don't you create a sample press release and post it? Make it easy for those who choose to go that route. Then all they'd have to do is copy, change a few things, and send it off.

Alex -- I had thought of putting up a sample release so now that you've requested it I think I will. Maybe I will even put up more than one and add an extra day or two to my upcoming week's posts. Let me see how much interests develops with my weekend posts. I know I'm stepping into territory that scares away many people, but I think that once they start thinking about this topic they will begin to realize the importance of self-promotion if they don't yet understand it completely. Some of my posts this week may get long, but I hope it will be valuable information and inspiration.

Hilary -- Thanks for all you are doing to help out. I can't make A to Z the bigger success that it can be on my own. I need the help of as many imaginative and ambitious dreamers that I can find.

Ella -- I'm hoping that at least a few out there will be open to my suggestions. In any undertaking that involves a lot of people, it is usually just a few that really step in to shoulder the most responsibility. I'm hoping that we'll get some real visionaries grabbing hold here to make A to Z as big as I hope some of our authors' novels might become in the marketplace. But promotion is essential.

Will -- Newspapers are but one media outlet--there are many more. More and more people are aware of what blogging is and an article or an interview in a media source can educate more. Ingenuity is what it will take to get the word out. You can tell your neighbors and spread the word a little. You can have the media inform the public and you can spread the word a little more--or perhaps a lot. I'll be addressing this topic in my upcoming posts. I just encourage everyone not to be negative about it, but to believe that it can be done and will be done. When you release your book you will most likely have to be doing most of the promotion. Now's a good time to practice technique and to learn so ways to do it. Go for it! You can do it just as well as anyone can do it.

I just joined your challenge a few moments ago and about to blog about it. Since it connects to both my Twitter and my Facebook account. The press release is a little bit tricky for my area but I am always up for a challenge.

Thank you for the chance to take my creativity to another level and I look forward to reading your work.

Go ahead and say something. Don't be afraid to speak your mind.I normally try to respond to all comments in the comment section so please remember to check the "Email follow-up comments" box if you want to participate in the comment conversation.

For Battle of the Bands voting the "Anonymous" commenting option has been made available though this version is the least preferred. If voting using "anonymous" please include in your comment your name (first only is okay) and city you are voting from and the reason you chose the artist you did.

If you know me and want to comment but don't want to do it here, then you can send me an email @ jacksonlee51 at aol dot com.

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A juggler of words and phrases. My main blog is Tossing It Out. The focus blog for the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge can now be found at a-to-zchallenge.com where updates will be posted until the event in April begins.
Wrote By Rote is about memoir writing.
A Few Words is my Sunday contemplation blog.
A Faraway View is about dreams. Pick what you like or look at them all. I love blogging!